The SIPRI Yearbook is an authoritative and independent source of data and analysis on armaments, disarmament and international security. It provides an overview of developments in military expenditure, arms production and the arms trade, weapons and technology, and armed conflict and conflict management, along with efforts to control conventional, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

This 56th edition of the SIPRI Yearbook covers developments during 2024, including:

-Armed conflict and conflict management, with an overview of global and regional developments in armed conflicts and peace processes
-Military expenditure, international arms transfers and developments in arms production, including the consequences of the expanded wars in Europe and the Middle East and ongoing geopolitical tensions
-The proliferation of missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles, with a focus on their use in the Russia–Ukraine war
-World nuclear forces, highlighting the nuclear modernization trends within the nine nuclear-armed states, as well as shifting nuclear doctrines and developments in nuclear sharing
-Nuclear arms control, featuring discussions involving China, Russia and the United States and within multilateral treaties, as well as regional challenges to disarmament and non-proliferation, and attacks on Ukrainian nuclear power plants
-Chemical and biological security threats, including the investigation of allegations of chemical and biological weapon use and developments in the international legal instruments against chemical and biological warfare
-Conventional arms control and the regulation of inhumane weapons, including cluster munitions, explosive weapons in populated areas, landmines and small arms and light weapons
-International governance of artificial intelligence, cyberspace and space security, with a focus on autonomous weapon systems
-Dual use and arms trade controls, including developments in the Arms Trade Treaty, multilateral arms embargoes and export control regimes, and the legal framework of the European Union for such controls

It also contains updated annexes listing arms control and disarmament agreements, international security cooperation bodies and key events in 2024.